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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043343">I fell into the black and white and all I got was this lousy cult religion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113'>Zoya113</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Black Friday - Team StarKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, black and white, the sniggles babey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:02:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,226</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26043343</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ethan died, he wasn’t expecting the afterlife to look like this.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ethan Green/ Lex Foster</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I fell into the black and white and all I got was this lousy cult religion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was in my drafts before nick Lang opened his mouth &amp; told us you don’t turn into a sniggle when you stay there too long so I had to change the plot bonk</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When your whole life is a pain it’s hard to imagine that there could ever be anything more, but death didn’t hurt, in fact Ethan didn’t feel a thing. </p><p>Lex and he had spent nights laying on their backs, squished in next to each other on his shitty twin bed, staring at his ceiling and whispering about nothing, trying not to wake Hannah. </p><p>“What do you think happens when you die?” Lex was the first one to ask.</p><p>He was silent for a while. He remembered how he felt clear as day. His mind was holding onto it now, the funny feeling that question gave his stomach and the tingles that ran down his hands as he squeezed Lex’s shoulder. Even now he could almost feel her warm breath on his neck.</p><p>It seemed he was right about death for the most part. Didn’t believe in heaven or hell. He thought it would be an endless void full of nothing but your own thoughts, but the latter was wrong. </p><p>He felt like he had just woken up, his brain was blurry and every train of thought seemed to overlap and repeat itself, running independently from his conscious and refusing to make sense. Anything he could understand came to him like a faded memory before it was lost again. </p><p>All he had left in his head was that night, huddled up close to Lex, trying not to laugh or talk too loud or risk waking up Hannah, and bullying each other for just an inch more space - he would always let her win. </p><p>That sort of feeling, pressed up against the wall, breathing into her hair, that cramped yet careless feeling was what he felt like now. </p><p>The air, if there was any, felt heavy and thick. If he actually could feel it, the moment he got too aware his mind would brush right over it and he would go back to that nothingness. </p><p>He was at the lakeside mall today. He didn’t know what day it was, he was there a lot, looking after Hannah for Lex. </p><p>Something about that pulled at a string in his mind like there was something he had forgotten. But then it went away, and he felt nothing again. Not in a numb way, no not at all. It was nice, like waking up early only to realise it’s a weekend. </p><p>If this was death, the afterlife, it was peaceful. <br/>———————————————————</p><p>Brief moments of consciousness came in bubbles, like waking up in the middle of the night. </p><p>It was so dark here, that was his main thought, and all he could focus on. So, so dark. He couldn’t even see past his own nose, maybe his eyes weren’t even open. </p><p>He swore though, when he was lucid enough that he could hear something.</p><p>Very very far away, like a distant thumping. Something heavy dropping, or a boom, perhaps a giant taking footsteps. It was almost rhythmic in nature, and strangely soothing. It was hard to tell in what direction it was coming from, but he felt a pull towards it.</p><p>It was sending him right back into a deep sleep when in this void of nothingness, there was another sound.</p><p>A laugh. But the moment it was over he couldn’t remember what it sounded like. </p><p>It sounded like it was coming from all around him, not that he knew what way he was facing in the first place. </p><p>And then another laugh, he let it burn into his mind, its cadence and timbre. It settled, echoing inside of his head. However there was technically no ‘Ethan’ to speak of, he couldn’t feel his body, he couldn’t control his mind and therefore comprehend his senses. But he was getting distracted, focusing on his train of thought was like trying to turn a car, it was purposeful and weighted and harder than he thought it’d be. </p><p>And then he saw something. </p><p>A little green light, racing right by him and illuminating nothing but a a pair of bright green eyes and a viscously toothed smile.  It didn’t even see him. </p><p>And he could actually feel his body, or his essence, move towards it, that green flicker staying in his sight for just a moment longer assuring him that he had in fact moved.</p><p>And so with his last moment of consciousness, he placed one foot in front of the other and followed after the green light.</p><p>———————————————————</p><p>In his next moment of awake, the light was gone. He couldn’t tell if he was still walking, he couldn’t feel his feet. He would have to wait until he saw another strange light again. </p><p>He could barely stop thinking about it even if he wanted to, even if he could. </p><p>His attention lapsed for a second, and he quickly forgot how much time had passed, if any had at all. He couldn’t tell, whatever part of his brain picked up on time was nothing but static. It could’ve been seconds, hours, it was hard to tell - perhaps he should’ve invested in a watch when he still had a body. He wondered if watches would work here.</p><p>How long had he been here? He didn’t feel tired, but he didn’t feel much at all. If he was still walking forward it wasn’t taking a toll on him. Perhaps he didn’t have a body anymore. It was hard to make heads or tails of anything. He only had his blurry and lazy stream of consciousness to keep him company. </p><p>Sometimes he would receive new blips of information in this void. For example just now he had learnt there was a floor below him. It was a dull shock to know there was something there under his feet, and that he could actually feel his legs again, but it was a fact he often forgot every time he relearnt it. His brain was still languished, but he hoped it would wake up soon enough to perchance retain it.</p><p>———————————————————</p><p>An uncountable amount of time had passed when something happened in this darkness again. He felt something other than numbness, other than the occasional footstep, cold.</p><p>A constant chill, chasing away that numbness and providing him some sort of sensory input again, giving him an outline of his body and not giving him a chance to forget. He still had legs, fortunately, and they were still walking. Now he just didn’t know if he was actually going anywhere.</p><p>He hugged a hand to himself, feeling the familiar leather. It sparked a memory for a second but his brain wasn’t practiced enough to hold it.</p><p>How long had he been here now? </p><p>It was hard to look back on things when he couldn’t tell each second apart, but he was sure once the cold had kicked in that it had been a while since his mind had last gone to sleep. </p><p>And he felt something too, a spark of fright as another one of those green things laughed right behind him, running by like he hadn’t even seen Ethan.</p><p>“Hey! Wait!” He hadn’t noticed his own voice was back. </p><p>But it had already vanished into the darkness, this time the owner of the laugh didn’t have one of those green lights hanging from its head. </p><p>He squinted, only just able to make out the figure running away, his ears tuning in a little more accurately to its laugh. And maybe his eyes were finally adjusting to the endless night. It had gone in the same direction as every other one he had seen pass.</p><p>That small figure, whatever it was, didn’t even reach his hips. A fluffy green monster was not what he expected to find in the afterlife, but hey, maybe they were guiding him towards the light or something. He had the urge to follow them. </p><p>If the void could sustain life it could probably sustain Ethan too, fortunately. </p><p>His great uncle who’s name he couldn’t recall all of a sudden was a biologist, or a doctor? Something like that, he was sure. There were more important things to remember right now - like the laugh or the green lights or the constant thumping, they were all much more interesting. He studied some sort of science, evolution and all that crap anyways.</p><p>And he had some time to kill in the void anyways, why not reinvent biology from the few facts he could remember? </p><p>Some of them had those little glowing  light things hanging from their heads like those deep see fish. They’d use them to lure in prey, which made these guys predators? If human laws applied to them that is. The front facing eyes too though, ugh. Kinda unsettling how bright and intense they were too. </p><p>But despite that, he did not feel threatened by them. He felt lured towards them, enthralled to follow. He was sure they were his friends, it’s what his heart was telling him. And that thought was so much clearer than any other he had come across in the black.</p><p>He felt tired of walking, and tired was not a feeling he missed. But he didn’t plan on stopping, in fact there was something inside of him pulling him so strongly forward. Just some sort of intrinsic desire to work, almost. To just follow after those things- their name was on the tip of his tongue, whatever they were. </p><p>If he walked just a little closer to that distant thumping, he was sure he would find out. </p><p>That’s where they were leading him right? </p><p>He rubbed a hand through his hair, trying to keep himself stimulated now that his eyes had nothing left to look at.</p><p>Somewhere distant now was some sort of rhythm, a song of sorts. </p><p>A happy little jingle, a relief to his ears that had had nothing to go off recently. It was curious at first, but he was almost entirely taken by it. He must be getting closer to wherever he had to be. </p><p>The noise was for once indecipherable again in its direction just like when he had first woken up here. It was catchy though, he never seemed to notice it repeating itself or looping but little lines came to him like he had known it once, and even now with his head awake he couldn’t seem to stop words tumbling off his lips.</p><p>He laughed, surprised to notice he was in a good mood despite all of this. </p><p>Matter of fact, he was in a great mood, and he could laugh. And he could feel it deep in his stomach like a bellow. </p><p>And a voice tuned in with him too!</p><p>A spot in the darkness illuminated with a neon glow and a wide toothed grin. One of those little green things, laughing along with him in a harmony.</p><p>And suddenly the air became lighter. He could breathe without an issue like it had never been heavy in the first place. It made it so much easier to laugh, he didn’t want to stop. He had missed feeling something and hearing something and having something to be genuinely happy about. </p><p>If he had been here for a thousand years or five minutes, he had no clue, but he didn’t mind how long it took anymore.</p><p>The creature outstretched one of its tiny clawed paws, and he took it without a second thought. </p><p>The song was already like second nature to him despite not knowing the words to the song, it became as easy as breathing, as easy as laughing, as easy as putting one foot in front of the other to head towards that thumping noise that was no longer so distant.</p><p>He was certain he was going the right way, and his friend was taking him. </p><p>His stomach hurt from laughing in the best way possible. He hadn’t laughed this hard since... he had a friend, he thought. A friend very prone to doing stupid things, at tall boy in a burgundy cap. He couldn’t remember his name. The boy, he had stolen something off of his other friend. He couldn’t remember her name either now. Short girl, they always loved to tease each other. He had forgotten the story, forgotten how anything could ever make him laugh more than now. It didn’t matter if he forgot their names, he would remember it if it was important - that’s why that night with Lex was still nestled safely in his mind. He didn’t have to think about it though, there were more important things at hand. </p><p>This song that was running through his veins, it was a mother tongue to him.<br/>“Where are we going?” He asked during a pause in the lyrics.</p><p>The creature did not answer, it was busy humming. It raised a paw to wave at another one passing by, giving a joyful laugh. </p><p>So Ethan didn’t press, he was excited, determined to walk this path to its end. He waved to a creature passing by as well, giving it a big grin and a chuckle. </p><p>Every time there was a thump, he could feel it vibrate through the ground. They were close.</p><p>He felt happy, and he could tell they felt happy too. Maybe death wasn’t such a bad thing after all, in fact maybe he had made it to heaven, he didn’t care if it was real or not there was just no other way to describe the joy so ever present in his being and in all of his friends here. </p><p>It only took a second to think about all the things he had to be happy about: he could feel again, he had lots of new friends, and the dark was no longer so dark.</p><p>He could actually almost see the floor, and there was one. It was black and white like a checker board, and he thought that was pretty cool on its own! He wished Lex could’ve seen it. Neither of them could play chess, but he thought they had once joked about learning. He couldn’t quite remember.</p><p>He glanced up to see where the light was coming from, perhaps he was at the other end of the tunnel. He didn’t want to leave this place just yet.</p><p>“Oooh,” his singing was interrupted by a coo of awe.</p><p>The creatures surrounding him cackled and giggled at his surprise in a friendly way, grabbing at his jacket and his legs and his other hand to hold onto him, hurrying him forward with excitement.</p><p>The light was coming from a set of huge eyes, towering far above him. He couldn’t see the figure, it was silhouetted in the dark. But it wasn’t scary, the light was like a warm embrace. </p><p>He could see it moving slowly in almost a swaying motion, thumping each foot down like he was coming forward to meet him.</p><p>He could feel the eyes looking right at him, welcoming him. He was a friend here, just like the rest around him, all scattered about chasing each other, singing and dancing. </p><p>The figure was humming too, his deep voice rumbling like a cat’s purr, it was comforting and warm. </p><p>The creatures were laughing and jumping, hopping up and down as they ran up to the figure.</p><p>And then in the light there was someone. </p><p>Not a creature, a man. He was awake enough now to feel shock but he didn’t. He felt relief like a warm wave, not because there was another human, but because there was another friend.</p><p>The creatures left his side to race towards the man, swarming around him and peering out from behind him to stare at Ethan with giddy looks like they knew what was happening, bouncing up and down on their feet and tugging at the man’s denim suit.</p><p>“Hey, Ethan.”</p><p>His voice was deep and smooth, comforting. There was nothing wrong about this man.</p><p>“I’ve been waiting a while for you t’show up. How do you feel about giving me a hand?” He took a single bite of the apple he was holding, gesturing with his head.</p><p>At this, the Sniggles raced back to his side to usher him along in Wiley’s direction. </p><p>Somehow he had always known their names. It’s never even been a question.</p><p>“They took their time bringing y’here. Get lost?” Uncle Wiley walked with such confidence and rhythm in each step.</p><p>“I think.” Because this was where he should’ve been this whole time. It was unfair to wake up in the black and white away from his home. He should’ve woken up here. He had always been here after all, even if he had been on earth his soul had always belonged here. </p><p>It fit so nicely here in the black and white, like nothing could touch him here. There was nothing more to worry about or be afraid of. There was nothing but fun and games and song and love here. Lex would absolutely adore it. </p><p>“It took you a while enough to get here,” he said. “Ah. No rush. They haven’t made it far.” He stopped above one of the black checker marks on the floor, gesturing a finger at it.</p><p>The sniggles were almost writhing with excitement, moving as one unit as they shoved him forward.</p><p>Wiley guided him forward, one hand on his back. “Go on. You know what to do.”</p><p>And he did. </p><p>He stepped through the square, it was the perfect size for him like it had just swallowed him up. </p><p>The air here wasn’t light or heavy, but it was breathable, and his lungs seemed to have already adjusted to it once upon a time.</p><p>He could head a quiet sobbing from somewhere. </p><p>His ears were fine too, and his eyes had no problems adjusting to the dark light. </p><p>He didn’t know if he had ever been here, he knew nothing but the black and white, but his body remembered this place, running his gloved hand over the balustrade in front of him as he learnt over the balcony. </p><p>Oh why did the child have to cry?</p><p>He knew why he was in the black and white now, just what purpose he had, to serve Wiggly. That’s why he ended up in his realm was it not? That’s why he had always been there.</p><p>He rested his eyes on the crying girl on the ground, it was sad how whiny she was. She could be so much happier if she just listened to him. </p><p>He would’ve gone down to grab her and bring her back safe with him, part of him wanted to. But he could not step far from his chess piece. He was but a pawn, happy to serve. </p><p>He looked over the girl for a second. Her name was Hannah his mind told him, but they had never met he was sure. </p><p>Hannah, oh Hannah.</p><p>His brain also told him she was a smart kid, a brave girl, a fighter. </p><p>A centre of his brain seemed to shout at him, pulling every string it could to tell him something was wrong but he brushed away that discomfort with a simple breath in. </p><p>He knew what he was here for, there was no point wasting his time, so he opened his mouth and the words came to him just like that song had, like he had known them so well once upon a time.</p><p>“What’s shakin’, Banana?”</p>
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